Sunday, October 7, 2012

Texas 2012: I Want to Remember

In mid-September, the three of us traveled to Dallas to visit my sister, Katie and her boyfriend, Preston.

It was a very fun trip!

Here's what I want to remember...

I want to remember what a great time we had at the Texas Rangers game. Our seats were fabulous, the ballpark was beautiful, and the staff was so friendly. Love me some Southern hospitality!

I want to remember that Noah and Brian were featured on the big screen (that one above Brian's head in the photo above) for a few seconds.

I want to remember how Noah made lots of friends at the game, including these three young women who put a T tattoo on his left arm.

I want to remember how excited Brian was to view this statue of Nolan Ryan. Growing up, Nolan Ryan was one of Brian's baseball heroes.

I want to remember how thrilled I was to learn that Katie and Preston got engaged after the game. Congrats, K + P! Katie sounded so happy when I talked to her on the phone. (It's been 10 years since I got engaged, but I still remember the sheer joy and excitement I felt that day.)

I want to remember how much I enjoyed eating brisket, coleslaw, and
pecan pie at Riscky's Barbeque in Fort Worth. Oh, and I loved their
sweet tea, too.

I want to remember how Noah loved chewing on coasters and menus and anything else he could get his hands on.

I want to remember how we strolled along the streets of Fort Worth, dipping in and out of myriad shops to browse for cute kids' clothing, boots, and hats.

I want to remember how we explored the Cowtown Cattlepen maze. (If you watch The Amazing Race, you might recognize this maze because it was featured in Season 5.) Initially, the four of us navigated the maze together, but then Kate and I decided to split off from Brian and Noah. Not the smartest decision I've ever made.

See, Kate and I are both directionally-challenged, so we
had a difficult time finding two of the four letters we needed to spell M-A-Z-E. We kept trying and trying and just when we thought we were on the right track, we'd hit a dead end.

We'd see the same signs over and over again. Like this one...

And this one.

Brian and Noah finished well before us (no surprise there), so they stood up on the observation deck and cheered us on. Eventually, with tons of help from Brian, we finished punching our cards and exited the maze...just in time to see the cattle drive.

I want to remember how cool it was for Noah and Brian to feed lettuce to a giraffe at the Dallas Zoo. I'm not going to lie: Initially, I wasn't big on the idea because I was concerned that the giraffe (and specifically, the giraffe's teeth) would be too close to Noah. But the giraffe was amazingly gentle; all he wanted was the lettuce.

I want to remember how much I enjoyed shooting with my Nikon D90 and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens. (Kate snapped this picture with her iPhone.)

I want to remember how much Noah loved seeing all of the animals. (This is the shot I was taking in the picture above.)

He even liked the cardboard animals, including this African penguin, who was about the same height as him.

I want to remember what a fun day we had at the Dallas Zoo--a beautiful park with tons of exotic animals.

I want to remember watching Kate and Noah play in the bathtub together. So sweet!

I want to remember how Noah started to cry when we wouldn't let him stand up in the tub. For some reason, he really wanted Auntie Katie's Catwalk shampoo. Sorry, Noah Bear, only Johnson & Johnson for you.

P.S. If that last photo put a frown on your face, there's no need to worry. I'll turn that frown upside down later on this week when I share some of the funniest photos from our trip. Stay tuned...